Archive for the ‘Actions’ Category

The Romans captured the great Sahaabai ‘Abdullaah Ibn Hudhaafah As-Sahami, and took him to their king, who said to him, “Become Christian and I will share my kingdom with you and give you my daughters hand in marriage.”

He (‘Abdullaah Ibn Hudhaafah As-Sahami) said to him, “Even if you give me all that you posses and all that the Arabs possess to make me give up the religion of Muhammad (saw) for the blink of an eye, I would not do it.”

He said, “Then I will kill you.”

He said, “It’s up to you.”

So the king ordered that he be crucified and that the archers shoot him near his hands and feet, whilst he was telling him to become Christian, but he refused to do so.

Then he ordered that he be taken down and a huge pot of coper be heated up.

Then one of the Muslim prisoners was brought and thrown into it, and when he looked, there was nothing left but bones. He again told him to become Christian, but he refused.

Then he ordered that he be thrown into that pot, and he was lifted on a pulley to be thrown in, but he wept and the king hoped that he would respond and he again told him to become Christian.

But ‘Abdullaah said, “I am only weeping because I have but one soul to be thrown into this pot for the sake of Allaah. I wish that I had as many souls as hairs on my body, so that they may all receive this torture for the sake of Allaah.”

According to some reports, the king imprisoned him and deprived him of food and drink for several days, then he sent wine and pork to him but he did not touch them.

The king summoned him and said, “Why did you not eat?”

He said, “They were permissible for me (in that situation), but I did not want to give you the satisfaction.”

The king said to him, “Kiss my head and I will let you go.”

He said, “And will you let all the Muslim prisoners go?”

He said, “Yes.”

So he kissed his head, and he let him go and he let all the Muslim prisoners go with him.

When he came back, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab said, “Every Muslim should kiss the forehead of ‘Abdullaah Ibn Hudhaafah, and I will be the first,” and he stood up and kissed his head.

“I used to serve the Messenger of Allah. So, he gave me a piece of land, and gave Abu Bakr a piece of land. Then, the worldly life came and and we argued over a bunch of palm trees, and Abu Bakr said: “It is in my piece of land!” and I said: “It is in my piece of land!” Then, there was an exchange of words between Abu Bakr and myself. So, Abu Bakr said something to me that I disliked, and he regretted that.

So, he said to me: “O Rabi’ah! Say back to me what I said to you so that we would be equal.”

I said: “I will not do so!”

Abu Bakr said: “Say it, or I will call the Messenger of Allah on you!”

I said: “I will not do so.”

So, Abu Bakr – may Allaah be pleased with him – went to the Prophet and I followed him, so the people from (the tribe of) Aslam came and said: “May Allah have mercy on Abu Bakr! Why would he call the Messenger of Allah on you when he has said to you what he has said?”

So, I said: “Do you know who that is? That is Abu Bakr as-Siddiq! He is the one who was in the Cave with the Prophet, and he is the elder of the Muslims! So, you had better not cause him to turn around and see you helping me against him, making him angry, causing the Messenger of Allah to come and become angry because of Abu Bakr’s anger, thereby causing Allah to become angry for both of their anger, thereby causing me to be destroyed!”

So, they said: “So, what do you want us to do?”

I said: “Go back to where you came from.”

So, Abu Bakr went to the Messenger of Allah and I followed him by myself and continued until he got to the Prophet and informed him of our conversation as it happened.

So, he (the Prophet) raised his head to me and said: “O Rabi’ah! What is going on between you and as-Siddiq?”

So, I said: “O Messenger of Allah, this happened and that happened, and he said something to me that I disliked, and he told me to say the same thing back to him so that we would be equal.”

Once a caravan came to Madinah. It had women and children too with it. `Umar said to Abdul Rahman ibn `Auf, “Can you stand guard on them tonight?” So `Umar, the second caliph, and he, kept awake that night together and kept vigil over the caravan. During that nightly vigil they both offered Tahajjud (late night) prayer as well. `Umar on hearing a baby’s cry and approaching, said to the mother, “Fear Allah and do look after your child carefully.” Saying this he came back to his own position. Once again he heard it crying, and going over to her mother once again gave her the same advice. When during the last part of the night the child cried once again, `Umar came to its mother and said, “Woe to you! You appear not to be a good mother. How is it that your child could not sleep peacefully during the night.” The woman little suspecting that she was speaking to the Amir of the believers, said in reply, “May Allah bless you, O man, you have pestered me several times during the night. I want to wean it forcefully (before time), but the child is intractable.” `Umar asked her, “And pray, why wean it forcefully?” She said in reply, “Because `Umar grants allowance only for such children that have been weaned.” `Umar asked her, “How old is your child?” And she told him it was only a few months old. And `Umar asked the woman not to be hasty in weaning her child. Then he led the morning prayer in such a state that his weeping made the recital of the Quran inaudible and unintelligible. At the end of the prayer he said, “`Umar is ruined. He killed the children of the believers!” And at this, he ordered the crier to proclaim in the town of Madinah that the mothers should not wean their children only for the sake of allowance for the suckling. From now on, every child, suckling or weaned, shall receive a stipend. And it was also proclaimed throughout the length and the breadth of the Islamic state. Unparalleled in the Entire History of Mankind

By Allah! The entire history of mankind is unable to produce such a brilliant and glorious incident. None among the civilizations of the world can present any personage like `Umar. He kept awake the whole night, keeping guard over the caravan and the caravan slept in peace. And we should keep in mind that he was the head of the Islamic state, and wielded great authority and power that had conquered the then mighty empires of Rome and Persia. And in spite of all that he did what a petty guard detailed to patrol the vicinity of a caravan in its sojourn would not do. He drew the attention of the crying child’s mother to her babe and asked her to restrain it from crying. Is there anyone who can mete out that treatment to the children in a passing Caravan, like `Umar? Who is there among the greatest personages of the history of mankind who can even touch the great human consciousness of `Umar?

Narrated `Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:

When I was accompanying `Umar ibn al-Khattab on his patrol of Madinah at night, he felt tired, so he leant against a wall. It was the middle of the night, and (we heard) a woman say to her daughter, “O my daughter, get up and mix that milk with some water.”

The girl said, “O Mother, did you not hear the decree of Amir al-Mu’minin (chief of the believers) today?”

The mother said, “What was that?”

The girl said, “He ordered someone to announce in a loud voice that milk should not be mixed with water.”

The mother said, “Get up and mix the milk with water; you are in a place where `Umar cannot see you.”

The girl told her mother, “I cannot obey Him (Allah) in public and disobey Him in private.”

`Umar heard this, and told me: “O Aslam, go to that place and see who that girl is, and to whom she was speaking, and whether she has a husband.” So I went to that place, and I saw that she was unmarried, the other woman was her mother, and neither of them had a husband.

I came to `Umar and told him what I had found out. He called his sons together, and said to them: “Do any of you need a wife, so I can arrange the marriage for you? If I had the desire to get married, I would have been the first one to marry this young woman.”

`Abdullah said: “I have a wife.” `Abd al-Rahman said: “I have a wife.” `Asim said: “I do not have a wife, so let me marry her.” So `Umar arranged for her to be married to `Asim. She gave him a daughter, who grew up to be the mother of `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz.

(and give them preference over themselves even though they were in need of that.) meaning, they preferred giving to the needy rather than attending to their own needs, and began by giving the people before their own selves, even though they too were in need. An authentic Hadith stated that the Messenger of Allah said,

«أَفْضَلُ الصَّدَقَةِ جُهْدُ الْمُقِل»

(The best charity is that given when one is in need and struggling.) This exalted rank is better than the rank of those whom Allah described in His statements,

[وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ]

(And they give food, inspite of their love for it.)(76:8), and,

[وَءَاتَى الْمَالَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ]

(And gives his wealth, in spite of love for it.)(2:177) The latter give charity even though they love the wealth they give, not that they really need it, nor that it is necessary for them to keep it. The former prefer others to themselves even though they are in need and have a necessity for what they spend in charity. Abu Bakr As-Siddiq gave away all his wealth in charity and Allah’s Messenger asked him,

«مَا أَبْقَيْتَ لِأَهْلِكَ؟»

(What did you keep for your family,) and he said, “I kept for them Allah and His Messenger.” `Ikrimah (bin Abi Jahl) and two other wounded fighters were offered water when they were injured during the battle of Al-Yarmuk, and each one of them said that the sip of water should be given to another of the three wounded men. They did so even though they were badly injured and craving water. When the water reached the third man, he and the other two died and none of them drank any of the water! May Allah be pleased with them and make them pleased with Him. Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said, “A man came to the Prophet and said, `O Allah’s Messenger! Poverty has stuck me.’ The Prophet sent a messenger to his wives (to bring something for that man to eat) but they said that they had nothing. Then Allah’s Messenger said,

«أَلَا رَجُلٌ يُضَيِّفُ هَذَا، اللَّيْلَةَ، رَحِمَهُ الله»

(Who will invite this person or entertain him as a guest tonight; may Allah grant His mercy to him who does so) An Ansari man said, `I, O Allah’s Messenger!’ So he took him to his wife and said to her, `Entertain the guest of Allah’s Messenger generously.’ She said, `By Allah ! We have nothing except the meal for my children.’ He said, `Let your children sleep if they ask for supper. Then turn off the lamp and we go to bed tonight while hungry.’ She did what he asked her to do. In the morning the Ansari went to Allah’s Messenger who said,

(Allah wondered (favorably) or laughed at the action of so-and-so and his wife.) Then Allah revealed,

[وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌ]
(and they give them preference over themselves even though they were in need of that). ” Al-Bukhari recorded this Hadith in another part of his Sahih.

‘Uthman bin ‘Affan[RA] entered upon a slave of his who was feeding his she-camel, and he saw something in the feed that he disliked, so he took hold of the slave’s ear and tweaked it. Then he regretted it and said to his slave:

“Settle the score.”

The slave refused, but ‘Uthman did not leave him alone until he had taken hold of his ear and begun to tweak it. ‘Uthman said, “Pull hard,” until he thought that the slave had pulled as hard as he had done. Then ‘Uthman said:

“How easy it is to settle a score before it is settled in the Akhira.”

One of the Companions I feel the most affinity for is ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar[RA]. Besides his position as the son of ‘Umar[RA] and one of the major jurists among the Companions, one cannot help when reading of him but to come away with the image of a man who is reserved, knowledgeable, serious, and avoided anything that would waste his time and not involve benefit to himself or others – and this was witnessed from his youth to his death. All in all, he is someone that we would all love to be.

Ibn Mas’ud[RA] said: “From the most disciplined youth of Quraysh in the face of the dunya was ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar[RA].”

Jabir bin ‘Abdillah[RA] said: “None of us experienced the dunya but that it affected him, except Ibn ‘Umar.”

Nafi’ said that Ibn ‘Umar[RA] presented himself to fight in Uhud when he was fourteen years old, and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) refused to allow him. He then presented himself during the Battle of the Trench when he was fifteen, and he was allowed to fight.

2 – His Discipline as an Adult:

Ibn Shihab said that Ibn ‘Umar was about to curse one of his servants, and said: “O Allah, cu-” without completing the word, and he said: “I don’t like to say this word.”

3 – His Love of Imitating the Prophet in Everything:

Zayd bin Aslam said: “Ibn ‘Umar would dye his beard with saffron until his clothes were colored with it. He was asked about this, and said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) dye his hair with it.””

Hisham bin ‘Urwah said: “I saw Ibn ‘Umar’s hair reaching down to his earlobes,” and Anas reported that the Prophet’s hair also hung down to his earlobes.

‘A’ishah said: “I never saw anyone holding tighter to the original affair than Ibn ‘Umar.”

Malik said that someone informed him: “Ibn ‘Umar would imitate the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) and follow his traces and lifestyle and be very keen in this, to the point that we feared for his sanity because of his keenness in this.”

Nafi’ said: “Ibn ‘Umar used to follow the traces of the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) in every place he prayed. This was to the point that there was a tree that the Prophet would sit under, and Ibn ‘Umar would frequent this tree and water its trunk so that it wouldn’t weaken.”

Nafi’ said that Ibn ‘Umar told him that the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) told him: “If only we could leave this door (of the mosque) for the women.” So, Ibn ‘Umar never used that door until the day he died.

Nafi’ said that Ibn ‘Umar was once on his way to Makkah, and stopped the animal he was riding and said to it: “Maybe my footsteps will fall where his footsteps did,” meaning the footsteps of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).

Tawus said: “I never saw anyone praying like Ibn ‘Umar who was stricter than him in facing the Qiblah with his face, hands, and feet.”

4 – His Friendliness With People:

Ibn ‘Umar said: “Sometimes, I go out for no reason or need except to greet people and have them greet me.”

Abi ‘Amr an-Nadabi said: “I went out with Ibn ‘Umar once, and he didn’t leave a single young or old person except that he greeted them.”

5 – His Care to Look and Smell Good:

‘Abdullah bin Waqid said: “I saw Ibn ‘Umar praying. If you saw him, you’d see him shivering about, and I saw him putting some musk in cream and rubbing it on himself.”

6 – His Humility:

Nafi’ said: “Ibn ‘Umar and Ibn ‘Abbas would sit with the people when the pilgrims arrived, and I would sit with one of them one day, and the other the next. Ibn ‘Abbas would answer every question he was asked, and Ibn ‘Umar would refuse to answer most of the questions he was asked.”

7 – His Lack of Eating:

Ibn al-Jawzi said that he would sometimes go an entire month without even tasting meat.

When ‘Abdullah bin ‘Adiyy (a servant of Ibn ‘Umar’s) came from Iraq, he greeted him and said: “I brought you a gift.” Ibn ‘Umar said: “What is it?” He replied: “Jawarish.” Ibn ‘Umar asked: “What is jawarish?” He replied: “It helps you digest your food.” So, Ibn ‘Umar said to him: “I haven’t filled my stomach in forty years. So, what will I use it for?”

8 – His Generosity:

Maymun bin Mahran said: “Ibn ‘Umar was given 22,000 dirhams in a gathering. He did not get up from that gathering until he had given it all away.”

Maymun bin Mahran said that Ibn ‘Umar’s wife would complain about him, saying: “What can I do? I never cook any food for him without him inviting others to eat it. So, I sent some food to the group of poor people who would sit in the road on his way from the mosque and fed them with it,” and she had told them not to sit in this road that Ibn ‘Umar took anymore and to not respond to his invitations. When Ibn ‘Umar finally got home, he said: “You don’t want me to eat supper tonight,” and he refused to eat that night.

Nafi’ said: “Ibn ‘Umar did not die before freeing at least a thousand slaves.”

Abu Bakr bin Hafs said: “Ibn ‘Umar would never eat food except in the company of an orphan.”

9 – His Defiance in the Face of a Tyrant:

Ayyub said: “I asked Nafi’ how Ibn ‘Umar died, and he said: “He was injured between two of his fingers by a supporting beam in the middle of the crowd during the stone-throwing of the Hajj, and this made him sick. So, al-Hajjaj came to visit him, and Ibn ‘Umar closed his eyes. al-Hajjaj spoke to him, and he would not reply.””